With each World Cup headline, Brazil grows more familiar. These days we can all pronounce Manaus. Yet even a decade ago, cultural aspects of the country were shrouded in mystery. In 2002, one event transformed that perception forever—and it had nothing to do with football. It was the release of Fernando Meirelles’ visceral City of God, a kaleidoscopic and at times heartbreaking depiction of two decades in the life of Rio de Janeiro’s toughest, most drug-ridden favela.

City of God earned four Oscar nominations with Meirelles auditioning hundreds of kids from the poorest parts of the city, very few with acting experience, to create the gangs whose rivalry drives the story. The film’s success transformed Brazilian cinema, and for its key performers triggered a breakout journey to the Croisette at Cannes. It also established Meirelles as the most influential figure in Brazilian cinema. He graduated to Hollywood with The Constant Gardener, Blindness and more recently 360, and his production company 02 Filmes subsequently became a powerhouse of the country's booming film, advertising and television industries.

With City of God - Ten Years On, documentary-filmmakers Cavi Borges and Luciano Vidigal caught up with the young men and women who brought the Brazilian ghetto so vividly to life for millions around the world. Seu Jorge and Alice Braga went on to high-profile movies including The Life Aquatic and I Am Legend respectively.

The cards did not fall so kindly for others. In one shocking scene in City of God a child of six was deliberately shot in the foot. We find the boy who played him working as a bellhop at a hotel in Ipanema. His dad, he recounts, spent the few reais he was paid for the role. Poignantly, the hotel in question is where Seu Jorge likes to stay when he’s in town for a premiere. But when the two alumni meet, the big star greets his old friend with a warmth and humanity that recall much of what made City of God such a timeless and universal story.

Tom Horan writes for the Guardian and the Observer.